King Gallon
King Gallon is one of the antagonists of Odin Sphere and one of the five beasts of Armageddon. He was originally the king of Titania before being slain by his son Edmund and later became the ruler of the Netherworld after Queen Odette was destroyed by Princess Gwendolyn. He was killed during the Armageddon by Oswald during his successful attack on Titania. Appearance King Gallon's human form is never seen. He is only seen as a massive, skeletal, grotesque three headed monstrosity which is basically the form of an undead Darkova beast as he was slain in life. All his heads lack teeth due to King Edmund smashing them during their combat. Although undead he still has "living" flesh underneath his ribcage where his "core" is, which is his only weak point (gameplay-wise). Personality Not much is known about King Gallon's personality except that he seems to be a conflicted character. While he was human he cared for both of his sons, but this changed when his elder son Edgar, decided to marry a commoner girl against Gallon's wishes. This caused Gallon to become paranoid and had his son murdered. While seemingly ruthless the validity of this claim is unknown. Most of his personality can be deduced upon his own in-game text. It can be seen that he is largely insane and has an uncontrollable thirst for destruction and urge to destroy anything, though it is heavily implied this is the result of the Darkova spell being the source of his destructive impulses rather than his own personality, as he is self-aware enough to know how twisted he is and refused taking part on The Three Wise Men scheme, although he ultimately ended up ravaging the land just as they wanted. On the non-canonical endings it is seen that he believes love to be an illusion and spares nobody on his rampage, not even his own son, and was (in all endings) capable of ravaging his own land of Titania. It is also implied that the decades of torture under Odette may have turned him even more twisted and insane than he should be, as he's in a constant state of pain and torment, and is absolutely terrified of anything related to her. Story Background King Gallon was the first known King of Titania in the storyline, and father of King Edmund and Edgar, as well as the grandfather of Cornelius and Oswald. He raised both of his sons and prefered the older son Edgar and was willing to gift him the Psypher Sword. However Edgar disobeyed his father and decided to marry a girl who was a commoner and renounced his right to the throne. Gallon came to believe that Edgar would take revenge on him, and thus had Edgar and his wife murdered by assassins, although unbeknown to him, his grandson Oswald managed to survive. It is not known how accurate his claims of Edgar's eventual vengeance are, or if he simply was paranoid. He later used the Dark power of Darkova to transform into the original demon beast to prevent Valentine from conquering Titania, and was slain by his son after rampaging for seven days and nights once he lost his mind. The Psypher sword wielded by Edmund remained trapped in Gallon's flesh for years before it was later bequeathed to Cornelius. Undead Gallon became one of Odette's favorite playthings after he arrived in the Netherworld, and was cursed to remain trapped in his rotted undead form for eternity, for his body would eternally regenerate no matter how much abuse it took. Only Odette herself, or those infused with her power could break the curse and destroy him. He was chained up in the lowest depths of the Netherworld, the Land of Misery and Despair, and remained in the dark for years. Occasionally Halja would be sent to re-chain him. After Cornelius was sent to the Netherworld, presumably by Urzur or one of the other Wise men, the cursed prince encountered Gallon, though he never saw the beast during this encounter. Gallon recognized Cornelius despite the Pooka Curse cast upon him by the smell of his blood and gave him the Psypher Sword, presumably hoping Cornelius would find a way to break the curse. His only other visitor during all this time was Velvet, who requested the original versions of the Erion saga. He was also an important figure in the Three Wise Men's plot, for they seemed to plan releasing him from the Netherworld against his own wishes. Freedom Though Gallon seemed to recover some control over himself during his time imprisoned in the Netherworld, he descended back into his dangerous ways whenever Ingway cast the Darkova spell on himself. The first this happened, he created a sufficient distraction for Odette to grudgingly allow Mercedes to escape with the Dwarven Psyphersmith Brom. The second time this happened, while Ingway was attempting to use the power to destroy the Crystallization Cauldron Odette had already been killed by Gwendolyn during the Princess' mission to rescue Oswald. The Halja arrived, informing Gallon of Odette's death and swearing their allegiance to him, as he was the only remaining creature powerful enough to rule the Netherworld during the chaotic times of the Armageddon. With the help of the cursed Beldor, he managed to lead his dark army out of the Netherworld and first consumed Ragnanival killing Odin and all of his warriors in the siege. From there he marched further easterward to Titania. Downfall in Titania Gallon's armies could not be stopped, and the siege of undeath combined with the destruction caused by the Cauldron brought the once powerful country to it's knees. King Edmund personally went to see his father and plead him to spare the people of Titania. By then Gallon had lost all traces of his former humanity though, and killed his own son. Not long afterward, Oswald arrived to put down the Demon Beast for good. Gallon recalled his old fear and hatred of Odette, claiming that even her shadow scared him. He did reveal an ancient secret however: only someone of Titanian royalty could kill him. He decided that, despite Oswald being The Shadow who was said to kill Gallon in the Prophecy, he was only a common warrior and could not defeat him. The two fought, culminating in Gallon's defeat. As he was dying Gallon demmanded Oswald to tell him who his parents were. Oswald then recalled the words of the Dragon Hindel, that his father was a man named Edgar. Shocked at Oswald's answer, Gallon explained that Edgar was his oldest son, and that he banished him for choosing to marry a peasant woman. He suspected Edgar of betrayal, and sent assassins after him in secret. Unfortunately for Gallon, the Fairy Melvin found and raised Oswald, who, in a twist of fate would later avenge his father. Gallon then dissolved into a cloud of darkness, cursing the fact that Fate had betrayed him. Alternate End If Gwendolyn, Mercedes or Velvet attempts to battle Gallon, they would be killed by the furious attacks of the Halja. Gallon would then march his dark army onward, looking for more sacrifices to his endless hunger. If Cornelius attempts to battle Gallon, the cursed prince would manage to deal some damage to Gallon, but the cursed beast would regenerate because of Odette's curse. Gallon would then explain this to Cornelius, who would realize that Odette was already dead, and thus, nobody could kill Gallon. Gallon would then devour his own grandson, leaving him to be picked apart by the maggots inside his stomach. Boss Gallon is one of the most difficult bosses in Odin Sphere. His three heads are all targets, each have their own life guages, and only by destroying them can his true weak spot, his heart be revealed. Unfortunately exposing his heart also begins his heads' rapid regeneration process, forcing the player to destroy them several times before finally winning through. Depleting the life gauge tied into Gallon's heart ends the battle. Gallon will also occasionally expose his heart to regenerate his heads at any time after losing at least one. Gallon's attacks include a Tongue-spearing attack as well as one where he shakes off various bones from his body, dealing some light damage. His most dangerous attack however is one in which he sends his three heads underground and attempts to attack the player with them. Not only is he very difficult to harm during this point, it's also one of the most damaging attacks in the game. Naturally, this attack changes depending on the number of heads he has at the time. While he has all three, he arches his neck and neck bones in loops across the battlefield. Attempting to cross them while they are moving is dangerous and results in damage to the player. Mercedes can easily fly over Gallon's neck itself, as can Gwendolyn or Velvet using their own powers, and Oswald can jump far enough over them. It's impossible to get around the neck bones however, as they cover the full vertical length of the screen. It's safest to remain near Gallon's body during this, because his heads will never pop up near it. The only thing the player has to worry about is occasional attacks from Halja. This is the only part of the fight they interfere with. With two heads, the Halja and Neck Bones are removed from the attack, but Gallon becomes more aggressive with attempting to strike the player with his head. His neck itself remains on the field, restricting the player's movement somewhat. With only one head Gallon is left entirely with emerging to strike the player with his head, allowing the Player to easily keep moving to evade the attack. Gallon's head will remain open for a few seconds after attempting to strike the player, allowing them to damage that head somewhat. Leifthrasir In Leifthrasir, his tactics remain mostly the same, except his arsenal has been upgraded. King Gallon has constantly summon towers of rotten flesh from purple puddles in the floor. These towers can be destroyed but damage the player on contact. Gallon is also aided by several undead, including Haunts and Ghouls making the battle much more of a harassment. King Gallon is capable of sprouting his heads near his body when using his submerging attack, although being close to his body still remains a solid safe point with ample room to maneuver. Whenever King Gallon's heart yellow bar is fully depleted, his heart will instantly hide and his heads will be fully restored, regardless of how much HP remains to be regenerated. The sole exception however is when his pink bar is fully depleted, at which point the player can still hack at his heart until his heads fully regenerate. Category:Royalty Category:Antagonists Category:Bosses